Knockdown sheet metal cabinet



March 23, 1948.

SON r-:r AL 2,438,257

CABINET NvsNToRs RALPH STavaNsoN sAAc NADoLsKY R/sTEvENsoN ErAl.`

i KNOCK-DOWN- SHEET METAL CBINE'II March 23, 1948.

Filed J'an.. :21,` 194e 4 Sheets- Sheet 4 A RALPH evENsoN BAM.

DOLS KY Patented Mar. 23, 1948 KNGCKDOWN SHEET METAL CABINET Ralph Stevenson and Isaac Nadolsky, Grand Rapids, Mich., assignors to Grand Rapids Metal Cabinet Company, Grand Rapids, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application January 21, 1946, Serial No. 642,507

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a knock-down cabinet made of thin sheet metal. It is a primary object and purpose of our invention to provide a cabinet, substantially all parts of which are readily pressed and formed from sheet metal, including top, sides, back, a supporting base structure, shelves and a closing door for the front, said parts being shipped or otherwise transported in separated condition, and all very quickly put together and assembled to make a completed cabinet with no necessity of skilled labor being employed for such purpose, and with the use of but little more than a screw driver on such assembly. When assembled, the various parts making up the cabinet, are securely held against accidental or other disconnection, and a Very serviceable and attractive appearing cabinet is produced at low cost. An understanding of our invention may be had from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the cabinet of our invention with the door being open.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section, from front to rear, with the door closed.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrative of parts used in the makeup of the cabinet, excepting the door, said parts being in separated condition.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section similar to the section shown in Fig. 2, with parts broken away, showing the detail of assembly of the several parts of the cabinet body.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan at one end of the cabinet.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary horizontal section, at one end of the cabinet, above an intermediate shelf therein.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary vertical section adjacent a rear corner of the cabinet and through an end of a shelf.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary vertical section of the cabinet at an upper front corner portion thereof.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary horizontal section at the front of the cabinet at the side where the door is hinged, said door being shown fragmentarily in section, and one of the hinges shown in plan.

In the construction, the under-support base frame includes a front channel I with a vertical web and rearwardly extending flanges and with rearwardly turned ends, the lower flange at its ends being depressed at 2 a distance equal substantially to the thickness of the metal used in the cabinet structure. Two side members are also used, each in a form of a channel 3 having outer (Cl. B12-143) vertical webs and inwardly extending upper and lower flanges, the upper anges each at its front end and also the web at its front end being offset downwardly and inwardly substantially the thickness of the metal as shown at 4, and the lower flange at its rear end pressed downwardly a like distance as indicated at 5 (Fig. 3). The front end portions of the two side members 3 are inserted at the ends of the front channel member I as shown and with the upper surfaces of-all the upper flanges of the channels I and 3 substantially flush and in the same horizontal plane. The upper flanges of the side channels 3 adjacent their ends and the upper flange of the front channel I, similarly, have vertical openings for the passage of short bolts as hereafter set forth. Y

The sides of the cabinet are likewise made from thin fiat or sheet metal. Each side has a rectangular body 6, at the front vertical edge of which a section 1 is turned inwardly at righi-l angles for a distance, and then again turned at right angles making a terminal flange 8 (Fig. 3) parallel to the body 6. The flange 8 at its lower end is widened somewhat as shown at 9 in Fig. 3, and at spaced apart preselected parts of the length of the flange 8 rearwardly extending tongues I0, are provided, there being notches, as shown at II and IIa, made in the flange 8 at the integral connection of the tongues I I thereto, and at their upper edges. At the rear Vertical edge of the body 6, a flange I2 of a predetermined width is turned inwardly at right angles, and at its free edge a plurality of tongues I3 are turned at right angles in a forward direction. At the lower edge of the body 6, a bottom flange I4 is turned inwardly in a horizontal plane, and it is provided with openings to come in conjunction with the openings in the upper flanges of the base frame channels i and 3, when a vertical side of the cabinet, constructed as described, is located in place one oneach side channel member 3 of the lower supporting base frame.

The back I 5 is made from a single rectangular sheet of metal. Inwardly a short distance from each vertical edge, rectangular spaced openings iii are made. The back may be located within the rear flanges I2 of the two vertical sides of the cabinet, resting against the upper side of the bottom ange I, and moved rearwardly so that the tongues i3 pass through the openings I6. Short bolts il are inserted through the openings in the flanges Iii of the sides yand in the upper flanges of the supporting channels I and 3 (Figs.` 2 and 4) and nuts screwed on to the bolts, de-v tachably connecting said sides and base frame together; Vand with the back I5 located in place and detachably connected with the tongues I3, the structure is assembled suiciently to receive, in succession, a bottom shelf, a series of intermediate vertically spaced shelves 28, and a top,`

to be located horizontally and -at'itsrear it ispro- Y vided with a downturned flange I9 andat ,each

wardly to make a flange section 2 I, having a ver- Y tical height comparative to .the height lof the ang'es I9 and 20, is then bent outwardly to malte a short horizontal section 22, continued in a downward direction to provide a vertical face section 23, and terminates Ainria lower l-iorizon-tal rearwardly bent angeAZ-li. `At each end of the front ofthe bottom shelf asV thus Afornfledfit is separated from ,an `end ront'portion 2 5V wherein the, metal ofthe upper body I8 of the shelf at the front and wat eachendisturned downwardly and continued as a single vertical section Aindicated at 25, separated bya islot from jthe. formation which contains the sections 2-I..iand 24, inclusive, andlocatedback ofthe face section `23.V Y

V'The hackY I5 is formed with inwardly pressed spacedglongitudin-al and vertical ribs 2 6, the horizontal ribs being ,properly located with reference to the .bottom Aand other shelvesreand thetop which are to beassembled in place, and the vertlcalribsavery short distance withinthe tonguereceivingopenings I5. jlhe bodyjloi each vertical side, similarly, a short distance `from ,the bottom vii-ange I4, I.andLbeIOw theV upper` end of each side, has a Ycontinuous horizontal ,rib 27 Vpressed inwardly. In the Y assemblyV of the lbottomsheln after `the sidesandback are .connected in place, therearange |19 .isbrought against the upper side of the Xlowest inwardlyeextendingrib 26 kof the backI 5andtheshelf, which `is 'heldin an upwardly and forwardlyfinclined position, Vis Yturned downwardly tojbring the lower edges .of the anges Z0 Yagainstthe .upper sides `of .the lowerf,

Y notches II` at the upper ends -Voi the widenedsection Sreceivethe frontedgeportionsof the hori-V zontal body I8 of the shelf, which `comes thereto and snaps into place and interlocks ,th,fares/ith.Y

lhe intermediate shelves .28 have `downturned rear ',anges 2.9 notched at V29a vto receive .the tongues I3. They V.also have downturned Vend anges-S' and .downtumed front .anges ,3l with inwardly bentlower edges 32. The flanges .3l

andedges 32 varenotched at 31a to receive the.

. tOngueslI.

The topgis-Qfgsmilar structure to the ,b otto'm angdintermediate shelves. Itis made from ySheet metaland includes ahorizontal ,rectangular .body 34, a rear downturned ,flange 35, and similar end anges 3.?, .the iiange''beine'.notched in its .lower Y so ' 6.0i thecabinet.

. 4 Y edge at a to'receive the tongues I3. At the front the intermediate portion'consists of a relatively wide iiange 37, slightly oiset rearward at 38 at its lower edge, and then continued in a short downward extension 39 Vwhich terminates in a rearwardly turned flange di). Toward eachend, 4the metalis vertically slotted and a section 4I,

,like the parts 25-and 33, having a'horizontal dimension substantially equal to the width of the ange ll, extends Vdownwardly and is set back Vfrom the flange portion V3l, a distance equal substantially to the thickness of the metal used in the parts of the cabinet. At each en-d of the sec- -tion T39, a lhook- 1421s provided, by :an extension and avert/ical slot cut upwardly therein from the vlower'edge ofthe lsectionli (Fig. 8) to engage with thehuppermost tonguey I0. i

The intermediate shelves and the top are applied by locating the downturned flanges 29 and 35, respectively, iirst in place against the inwardly pressed horizontal ribs '29, andwithsaidshelves and top'inclined Vupwardly and outwardly moving them down .at their forward portions ,tmpl-ace, with a snapping into the vnotches. II and IIa-of the .edge portions ofthe shelves andJtop at the upper ends of the slots lwhichseparatethe front intermediate portions `of said shelvesandgtop from their end sections 33 andfl, respectively. The end iianges Y3.5i, of the top willcomeagainst the upper horizontal Yribs 21 of the verticalsides When thus assembled, securely held togetherand will notlaccidentally or otherwise separate in normal use thereof;- AThe several members which makeup thecabinetmay be rshipped. 'in akneck-down .condition and assembled vin ,completeorm ina very shortgtime,

the iront `edges .3l of ,the intern-mediate shelves provide ystopsiorY a door which jmay be used gto closesuch front opening. -YIhef'door1-143 isV alsoV Y yagainst the inner side of the door d3 within ,the

made from a rectangular plate ef-thin metal which may .be .pressed in shape, -in accordance with. any preferred design, toy give a `pleasing ap# pearance andalso acting to strengthenand rein` Lforce,.and at the edges rearwardly turned flanges i4 `are preferably made for further strengthening and reinforcement. i f

Th'edoor is hingedly mounted tofswing about la vertical axis. A plurality of Vhinges'are used: fAs shown in Fig. 9, each hinge consists of a flat Yleaf 3E, .located at the rear side of one of the sections 1, Aand spot welded or otherwise permanently secured. The other leaf consists vo'an endsection 4l pivotally connected to one edge of the-leaf l5 and, when the door visfclosed, lying parallel thereto.` At `theother en dfof vthe section ,41; a semicircular, relatively long section 38 extends,

being preferably ribbed` forstrength, from which.

a Aflat terminal section .-49 Vextends and is located adjacent vertical flange d rand is permanently connected to the door in the same manner. AThe two parts of the hin-ge may be connected respec-A tively to th'e cabinet land the door-and in rassembly the hinge pins or pintles :inserted so ythat the the cabinet isA rrnlyandV Y may be moved to completely closed position and releasably latched when closed, the usual handle and releasable latchI being supplied.

'I'he construction is very practical, economical to build, and with it a cabinet having its interior space divided by vertically separated horizontal shelves, is made, all parts being of sheet metal, ready to be assembled and when assembled interlocking, providing a securely connected structure.

'Ihe invention is defined in the appended claims and is to be considered comprehensive of all forms of structure coming within its scope.

We claim:

1. In a structure as described, a supporting base including, spaced side members and a front member, each of sheet metal channel form, vertical sides located over the side members, each of sheet metal, and having a lower horizontal flange resting upon .the upper sides of the Ibase side members, means for detachably connecting said horizontal anges to said supporting frame, said side members at their rear edges having in-V turned flanges from the edges of which a plurality of vertically spaced tongues extend in a forward direction, and at their front having inturned facing ilanges from the edges of which terminal anges extend rearwardly, said terminal anges having a plurality of vertically spaced rearwardly extending tongues, a bottom shelf, a plurality of intermediate shelves and a top, all of sheet metal, carried on said tongues and having means for releasable interconnection therewith, and a back comprising a plate of sheet metal located within the rear inturned flanges of said sides and having openings through which the tongues thereon pass, said shelves and top bearing against the front of said back and holding it against said rear Ilanges.

2. A construction as dened in claim 1, said shelves and top each comprising a rectangular plate of flat metal, each having Ilanges extending downwardly at its sides and ends, said back having forwardly pressed horizontal beads upon which the rear :flanges of the shelves and top bear at their lower edges, and said sides having upper and lower inwardly pressed horizontal beads against which the end anges of the bottom and top rest, as described. v

3. In a structure as described, a base support, vertical sides of sheet metal having inturned front and rear iianges connected to and extending upwardly from the base support at opposite sides thereof, a back of sheet metal located between said sides and at the front of the rear anges thereof, said back having openings and said anges having forwardly extending tongues 4passing through said openings, a, bottom shelf, a plurality of intermediate, vertically spaced horizontal shelves and a top, all of sheet metal, said shelves and top having downturned front and rear flanges, said rear flanges being located forwardly of said back, and said front flanges on the vertical sides having rearwardly extending tongues, said flanges on the shelves being slotted for the reception of said tongues, said front flanges of the vertical sides at their inner edges having rearwardly turned terminal anges from which said tongues of the front flanges extend rearwardly, said rearwardly turned terminal flanges having notches at the upper edges of said tongues receiving portions of the bottom and intermediate shelves.

RALPH STEVENSON, ISAAC NADOLSKY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 

